I have to agree with Bob that equalizing a contest to
fairly compare operating ability really requires geographic
proximity and equipment equality. Just to add one more
argument against an equalized contest, consider the impact
of propagation weighting on band selection: Should I go
for maximum raw score on the best band for my location or
should I use the band where the propagation handicap gives
me the best weighted score? Ugh.
Improvement awards as suggested by TV are fun, but requiring
no change in station runs counter to his own point that
improving your station is a value to be encouraged.
How about normalized scores like they use in NASTAR ski
racing? You have a "pace setter" pro and measure the
performance of others based on how close they come to
that score. So in radio we might take thw winning score
in each geographic region (or the average of the top 3, or
something) and rank everyone as a percentage of that
score. Then you can track progress as your percentile
rises (or falls). Of course, the normalized rankings could
be in the same classes as raw scores - single op, multi-multi,
high or low power, etc. depending on the contest.
I've always been intrigued by the concept of long term
rankings like they use in chess, bridge and, to a lesser extent,
in physical sports. In chess you have a ranking based on
past performance against opponents of different strengths.
It is sufficiently precise to be a strong predictor of
future outcomes - if you are 200 points below your
opponent you can expect to score something like 30% in
a significant sample of future games. If you are 200
points below the average in a large tournament, you can expect
to come out in the bottom third. We can't expect to
get so precise in radiosport, but even a crude metric
would be fun to study. (The chess players also have some
annual cumulative points competitions with credit
earned by placing in selected competitions. Each such
tournament has an allocated number of points to be
distributed among the top scorers.)
Bridge also has a ranking system based on points earned
for performance in various kinds of tournaments. It is
flawed by being strictly cumulative so the wizard who
plays infrequently can't come close to the journeyman who
plays every week, but again it is an interesting indicator
of strength.
There have been some abortive attempts to set up such a
system in radiosporting over the years, but none really
took off. How about it, NCJ?
/Rick N6XI
tavan@tss.com
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